


tujh se main takrayaa (sarphira ho gaya)

by somebody_im_not



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: ATLA WLW Week 2020, F/F, Introspection, Mai (Avatar)-Centric, its rly just her thinking of stuff, yes this is titled after a hindi song Shush.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26611270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somebody_im_not/pseuds/somebody_im_not
Summary: title translated: i fell in love once i met you——mai thinks about the war. she also thinks about how things have ended up. she doesn’t know how serious this is with ty lee, but she’s willing to try.Agni, Mai loved her.
Relationships: Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 39
Collections: AtLA WLW week 2020





	tujh se main takrayaa (sarphira ho gaya)

**Author's Note:**

> me writing for wlw week? more than likely. also this is just. my first atla fic in general wow,, we’ll see how it goes.

Mai sat through the meeting. She resisted the urge to put her head on her hands, like she’d done for forever. Now especially, more than ever. Zuko had only just been coronated and this was still the buffer zone, where everyone was watching his every move. And by proxy, hers too.

The first thing she’d done after getting busted out of prison with Ty Lee was to get back to Caldera City, exactly in time for Zuko to become the new Fire Lord. She couldn’t say she  _ wasn’t _ expecting it, even if he’d been banished.

Okay, in her mind, it had always been a 50/50 chance between him and Azula, even when Zuko had still been Crown Prince. Once Azula started bending, and bending blue fire at that, she didn’t know who the throne would go to. When  _ Phoenix King _ Ozai had risen to the throne instead of Iroh, that just threw a further wrench in her imagination. If the second-born could ascend instead of the first, who was to say Azula couldn’t become Fire Lord in Zuko’s stead?

But now well, she was happy it was someone she trusted ruling their fraught nation.

She wasn’t sitting next to the guy. Not with her status as of yet, a “lowly advisor” wouldn’t be allowed next to him, according to the rest of the windbags. She and Zuko would have fun trouncing that later, but for now, she knew she couldn’t. She’d have to stay put on the left side of the rectangular table.

At the very least, Zuko had already trounced all over another rule. Instead of sitting up on the high throne, cut off from the rest of his committee due a wide berth of his fire, he’d moved down and joined the table. The old ministers had had an aneurysm. That was all good, seeing how he was using this period to sniff out which of them were still loyal to Ozai.

Poor guy. He’d had to become the monarch of a nation at 16.

She didn’t wish that on any of them. They’d all had to grow up too fast. Still she kept up a neutral face and listened in into the meeting.

It was one of the war reparations talks, ones that eclipsed what would become his regular duties. The war might’ve just finished, but they were all still dealing with the fallout, and in her opinion, Zuko had one of the biggest loads to bear. The Ozai supporters had to be flushed out. The public had to be swayed back to peace instead of the hateful ways they’d all been brought up with. All of this including the fact that he was 16, which caused everyone around him to underestimate him.

She tried not to think the bags under his eyes. She’d ask him about it later, if they had time, away from the eyes watching their every act.

She wasn’t watched as closely as the leader of their nation, but she was. Anyone who was involved in the war was immediately under suspicion, especially she had only switched sides at the end, and questions persisted despite her and Zuko’s attempts to shoot them out. She wasn’t even doing anything! She was just listening in on a meeting! She was an advisor, but she knew plenty well that she didn’t have to. She  _ mostly _ trusted Zuko’s judgement on this front, and she would only join the discussion if his decisions were being smothered. That was plenty frequent in other meetings, but for today, it looked to be a clean day. She let her mind go back racing, as her posture remained straight as ever.

She had to stifle a snicker at that.

She briefly thought about everyone else. Aang travelling the world, fulfilling his duties as the Avatar, peacefully now that the war was over. The siblings from the Water Tribe had returned home with who she thinks is their father, now back together again. Toph had gone back to Earth Kingdom, something about running a school. Azula was in one of the city’s top hospitals and Zuko went to see her as often as possible despite everything. Mai hadn’t gone in yet.

That left two of the Kyoshi Warrior guard. She had been really confused when Suki had taken the first step and offered some of the warriors as Zuko’s personal guards, but she hadn’t denied that it would be nice. Suki and Zuko had both grown together while in prison (and out of it too). She knew what that was like.

She quirked a look over at the door, where three stood. She still doesn’t know who the other two are. They’re on a rotation, if she isn’t mistaken, and she hasn’t quite familiarised herself with all the warriors yet.

She looks at Ty Lee, standing straight (once again, a snicker is forced down) and looking ahead neutrally, face passive and holding none of the mirth it usually does. She’s really grown into one of the Warriors, not that she wasn’t one before, but…

Mai doesn’t know how to explain it, but Ty Lee has this new weight around her. It feels like she’s finally settled into herself after literal years of running. Though she told Mai years ago that the circus was her calling, she thinks this is it. Ty Lee is grounded and ready to strike at a moment’s notice, perfect for intimidating the rest of the advisors.

It had taken her aback at first, the shift in her attitude. But then Ty Lee would shoot her one of her regular grins and Mai would feel all was good in the world.

In prison, they all had figured themselves out, which felt shitty to say but it was true in a way. Ty Lee had kept training with the Warriors, teaching them about chi blocking and had even picked up on some things herself. She was still learning how to fight with the fans, but it was best if the rest of the palace  _ didn’t _ know that.

She thought about herself in that prison. She’d spent the first days keeping to Ty Lee. She didn’t know if she could handle being around the people who’d been on the opposite side of the war, until a few days ago. She just watched, and she learnt.

Zuko’s approach at telling her had been stilted and broken, but he had been right. The Fire Nation had never been the good guys. She saw how the War had broken them, had pushed them down here, but they were still fighting. And Mai learnt.

She’d learnt something else too, not as important to the world but to her. She didn’t even know if she wanted the world to know just yet. Was she ready? Would they be okay with it? Then she remembered the look in Zuko’s eyes when he’d waved goodbye to the Water Tribe warrior and how similar it was to how they used to look at each other. Maybe the rest  _ would _ be okay.

Ty Lee must’ve noticed eyes on her as her head turned to look at her. Her eyes creased with the familiar smile lines, and she sent a huge grin Mai’s way. Mai pushed down the blush on her cheek and her lips quirked up, the only indication she gave that she and Ty Lee were looking at each other.

She didn’t know what exactly it was between them just yet. The instinctive need for her hand to hold the other’s. Whispered nothings to each other for no reason other than to hear the other’s voice. Soft kisses when they were alone. She was terrified of messing it all up and throwing it away.

She broke the eye contact and ducked her head to hide the huge, fond smile across her face. One advisor looked over at her with confusion. She was getting rusty. She’d need to pull her mask on more. But just maybe, she didn’t want to anymore.

That unnerved her and she looked back up to the meeting, passive face back on, but that didn’t stop her mind from wondering,  _ for now _ .

After that slip-up, she kept her mind empty for the rest of the talk. She had been right. No further arguments cropped up through the whole thing. Had they finally fired all the remaining Ozai supporters? She didn’t believe it, but this was a promising start.

Everyone filed out one-by-one, herself included, Zuko left alone in the room. She’d leave him for now; she knew when he needed to be alone, and he needed that reprieve right now, through the workload of leading a country. She just followed to rest of the advisors outside, right behind the Kyoshi Warriors.

Ty Lee immediately split from the main guard, the other two not even batting an eye. Had this been planned? But Ty Lee’s sporadic nature it probably wasn’t. At least the other Warriors knew what was going on. She held out a hand for Mai and she took it immediately, only realising it a moment later. She let herself be led away down the other fork in the hallway, and tried her best to ignore the whispers behind her.

She couldn’t for long. As soon as they were out of earshot, she stopped in her tracks and Ty Lee pulled next to her. She whispered, even though there was no one else but them, “Why did you do that?”

Ty Lee just shrugged in response. “I wanted to.”

Mai asked again, “But what are they going to say?”

Ty Lee shrugged again and now her eyebrows downturned, almost as if she hadn’t even entertained the notion that there was anything different to do. “I don’t care what they’re going to say.”

Everyone always said she was apathetic and cold – hell, even Ty Lee had once – but they were thinking about the wrong person. Mai was cold, because she cared too much what others thought of her. She never wanted to betray any of her emotions. Ty Lee, though? She cared for those she loved and only those. She didn’t care about the world, and rights and wrongs, but those she was with. To her, they were her whole world.

Agni, Mai loved her.

Ty Lee had come closer in that moment, concern etched on her face. Mai looked into it. Maybe… just maybe.

She leaned down and softly kissed Ty Lee on the forehead. She found that she was okay with it. She didn’t want to stay hidden in the shadows anymore. Maybe she loved Ty Lee enough for that. 

The Kyoshi Warrior in front of her blinked in surprise, then broke into a wide smile. “So you don’t care either?”

Mai shook her head softly, still thinking about it. “I don’t think I do.” The smile that appeared unbidden on her face mirrored Ty Lee’s. 

She grabbed her hand again and they started down the corridor at the same pace. “Ok, so there’s no one in the garden yet, so it’ll just be you and me! Maybe the turtleducks too actually, but I’m not too sure. I don’t know, I figured we could just have a little time, together. Maybe talk about stuff? I don’t know, I didn’t really think that far.”

Mai just smiled again, the gesture coming easier to her. “I’m good with that.”

**Author's Note:**

> uhh uh yea. find me on tumblr at @bi-kyoshis!!


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